Dark matter in compact stars

Abstract

White dwarfs and neutron stars are far-reaching and multi-faceted laboratories in the hunt for dark matter. We review detection prospects of wave-like, particulate, macroscopic and black hole dark matter that make use of several exceptional properties of compact stars, such as ultra-high densities, deep fermion degeneracies, low temperatures, nucleon superfluidity, strong magnetic fields, high rotational regularity, and significant gravitational wave emissivity. Foundational topics first made explicit in this document include the effect of the ``propellor phase" on neutron star baryonic accretion, and the contribution of Auger and Cooper pair breaking effects to neutron star heating by dark matter capture.